Ukraine, Makhno, and the Black Army

By July 1918, the left-leaning Ukrainian People’s Republic had been overthrown by Pavlo Skoropads’kyi, who led the subsequent Ukrains’ka derzhava or Ukrainian State as Hetman (this government is therefore also known as the Hetmanate). The country was in turmoil, with internal divisions fuelled by the external influences of the Central Powers and Moscow-based Bolsheviks. Another significant player in the civil war now appeared – the anarchist, or anarcho-communist, Nestor Makhno.

From 1918 to 1921, Makhno’s forces (known by various names including the Black Army) would play a major part in Ukrainian and South Russian affairs. One of its leaders would in fact be a Left Socialist Revolutionary, Dmitrii Popov. Eventually, Makhno and his army would be routed by the Red Army, shortly after the Reds and Blacks had collaborated to defeat the Whites in Europe. In emigration, Makhno wrote three volumes of memoirs. The third volume, published 1937, was called Ukrainian revolution : July-December 1918, and its title page is shown here.